Ex-Terror Czar: al-Zarqawi Death Won't Speed End of Iraq War

[sabra]

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/IraqCoverage/story?id=2052737&page=1

Ex-Terror Czar: al-Zarqawi Death Won't Speed End of Iraq War
'Symbol of Terror' in Iraq Controlled Only Small Percentage of Insurgents

June 8, 2006 — Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a vicious killer and the most prominent face of terrorism in Iraq, but his death will not hasten the end of the war in Iraq, according to former White House terror czar Richard Clarke.

"Unfortunately for the loved ones of troops over in Iraq, this is not going to mean a big difference," said Clarke, who is now an ABC News consultant.

This morning President Bush hailed the death of al-Zarqawi as a "severe blow to al Qaeda" and "significant victory in the war on terror."

Clarke said the modest size of the terrorist leader's organization and his minimal involvement in the daily bomb attacks on coalition forces made that claim unlikely.

[Jack Rabbit]

1. I couldn't agree with Clarke more

The insurgency is not about Saddam or Zarqawi, two people of whom most Iraqis are glad to be rid. The insurgency is about:

• Nationalism: Iraqis do not want their country run by foreigners; and
• Sectarianism:Many Iraqis do not believe in religious freedom, even for all Muslims, and will not abide by a government dominated by members of a branch of Islam to which one do not belong.

The only thing the Bushies can do about the first is quit the country; unfortunately, there isn't very much anybody can do about the second.

Civil war on sectarian and ethnic lines would most likely have broken out in Iraq had Saddam died of natural causes (like a sudden case of lead poisoning to the brain) instead of his being toppled by a colonial invasion in the Spring of 2003. The presence of foreign imperialist troops only complicates matters for everybody.

[maxsolomon]

2. more likely a struggle for power between his sons

with the pragmatist winning (the one that was not Uday. i think), and the baathist dynasty continuing, a la syria.

zarqaqi is OUR creation. absent the US invasion of iraq, he kills no one.

[Dhalgren]

3. Great point. And dead on...

[Jack Rabbit]

7. That's one possibility

However, there should be little doubt that the Shia would make their move to oust the Baathists and the Kurds might have taken the opportunity to declare independence. Questions like how much support would the Iranians give to the Shia and how much would the Americans give to the Kurds (who would have wanted to grab Kirkuk, if they could) in exchange for oil and military bases.

It still would have been quite messy.

Nevertheless, you're right about Zarqawi. He wasn't able to do much more than set off an occasional fire cracker before the invasion and probably wouldn't have amounted anything otherwise.

[Name removed]

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[Mnemosyne]

26. Yep, cable TeeVee is yur answere. n/t

:rofl:

Peace,

Bye.

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Good for Richard Clarke.

And thanks to ABC for trying to take the wind out of W's sail so quickly.
It's another happy coincidence for Bush that they managed to kill one of the bogeymen when his polling numbers were so low.

Oh yeah, and where's Osama?

[rodeodance]

5. another bodgyman will arise and be asigned the evil person!

[Karenina]

15. What about Al-Zawahiri???

Haven't heard much from him lately. Maybe cuz the names are too similar for Western mind and da folks wuz gettin' them evuldooers confuZed. ;-)

[Igel]

6. But what Clarke doesn't address

(and pundits typically only address one issue, the one they think is most relevant to their PoV at the time) is the matter of suicide bombings.

Claim's been made by various folks, European, Iraqi, and American, that Zarqaui and his ilk are behind most of the suicide bombings that target things like bakeries and souks. He may not be alone, but it's a question as to whether the rate suicide bombings will decrease or not--after the pipeline's emptied, of course. Others may pick up the slack, or the loonies that want to commit murder as they off themselves may hold steady.

As with most other things, it's a question we'll see the answer to; everything else is speculation, with how important the speculation is being based on appeals to (personal) authority.

[Kikosexy2]

8. The cat...

that died a 1000 deaths ...ding dong is the wicked witch really dead??? Just hope another zarquawi tape doesn't air around Nov. If so, he's really the boogeyman! I shrug at this news because this dude was nothing more than boogeyman fodder for Chimpie and co. Is Mission Accomplished then? Right now the Repugs are creaming in their jeans in an orgasmic frenzy...but the deaths and destructions will continue...more lives wasted in this quagmire and Ol Big Dick Cheney's prostate will be tingling to orgasmic escatsy with more profits for Halliburton....quick let's check the latest poll numbers now...

[THAT GUY]

9. Zarqawi death is good

One less badguy to order the beheadings of Americans. Kill enough of these psychos and the violence will subside.

[High Plains]

10. More like "kill enough of these psychos" and you will grow

ten thousand more. This is the thinking that got us there in the first place. Dumb.

Oh, welcome to DU.

[erknm]

11. For a traditional enemy, perhaps, but not here

More will grow. This culture seems to have succeeded in convincing its people that dying means that you become a hero, a martyr, regardless of how evil you were.

I do not know what we should do now that we are there. We have to eradicate the terrorists. I just do not think it is possible.

For a traditional enemy, killing them off is a positive. However, not here and we now know this. Perhaps the greatest criticism of this effort is that no one in power recognized this before we jumped in.

FH

[Bridget Burke]

14. So join up & do your share.

Welcome to DU!

[Canuckistanian]

16. You misunderstand

These guys don't mad, they get even. And they don't go away.

Thay have remarkably long memories and will hold a grudge for two or three generations.

He'll be replaced by someone with less experience, perhaps, but their battle will go on.

Killing their leaders only gets them more inflamed and more sure of their cause.

Did the US give up when a commander was killed in WWII? Did the army disband and just pull out of Germany or Japan? Of course not.

This is their WWII. And a few losses are not going to stop them from their goal - to get all the foreigners out of their country.

[wake.up.america]

17. Really? I hope you are right.

[bushmeister0]

12. WaPo reported last April that Zarqawi was manufactured by US

On April 11th the WaPo reported:

"The U.S. military is conducting a propaganda campaign to magnify the role of the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq...The effort has raised his profile in a way that some military intelligence officials believe may have overstated his importance and helped the Bush administration tie the war to the organization responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/09/AR2006040900890_pf.html

Remember, Colin Powell brought him up at the UN in 2003, along withthe vile of anthrax and the evidence of robot planes poised to attack New Yrok...

Asia Times Online did the whole history of the creation of the Zarqawi myth:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FJ15Ak02.html

"What had he actually done until 2004? Not much. Unlike bin Laden in 1998, he never issued a declaration of war against Jews and Crusaders. Because Zarqawi may have been in northern Iraq at the time - training Ansar al-Islam fighters - and because he may have traveled to Baghdad in May 2002 to treat his injured, or amputated leg, was evidence enough for Powell to speak of "a sinister nexus between Iraq and the al-Qaeda terrorist network". Powell of course never mentioned two crucial facts: even if Zarqawi was really in northern Iraq, he was in a safe heaven for Iraqi Kurds; and Ansar al-Islam was a mortal enemy of Saddam's Ba'athists. Not to mention the fact that the Pentagon always refused to take out Ansar's base: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was not interested in obliterating a perfect pretext for the war. Moreover, Ansar could also be used as an ally against Saddam."

[milkyway]

13. Did Bush admin imply bin Laden wasn't responsible for 9/11?

From abc's Clarke article:

"They said Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had more American blood on his hands than even Osama bin Laden and, as they say, it doesn't get any better than this," Stephanopoulos said.

But I thought bin Laden killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11. Less than that have been killed in Iraq, and most of them not by Zarqawi.

[kaneko]

24. I wish

people would stop repeating the misinformation that 3000 Americans were killed on 9/11. 3000 people of various nationalities were killed , if I remember correctly.

[twaddler01]

18. What ever happened to that Bin Laden guy?

:shrug:

[AX10]

19. And still the Cable "News" Mafia is going all out...

with their "Bush Worshipping" this afternoon. :puke:

[twaddler01]

22. FOX is loving this

:eyes:

[Vogon_Glory]

20. Good Riddance To Bad Rubbish--BUT

I don't intend to mourn a murderous psycho like al-Zarqawi. The fact that another author of death, mayhem, terror, and misery in Iraq is of itself cause for celebration.

The justly-deserved demise of this vile wretch (And would that his bad end had happened sooner!) is, of course, NOT going to end the insurgency against the US-led occupation. Most of the Iraqis shooting at or setting off bombs under US and allied troops hate being occupied and want the foreign troops out of their country.

I'm saddened to state the obvious--our servicemen and servicewomen are still going to continue to suffer casualties. So are the insurgents and the even more numerous hapless, suffering bystanders in Iraq.

[UCLA Dem]

21. Someone else will just take his place.

And the cycle of violence will continue.

[Name removed]

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